Healthcare in the Southside

Driving down East Main Street, you see the signs of a town in bloom— in more ways than one. While a growing batch of restaurants and bars in Chattanooga’s revitalized Southside are catering to locals’ stomachs, another group is focused on the body as a whole. Opening in a smattering of repurposed warehouses, formerly shuttered businesses and recently built facilities, the Southside’s rising number of health-focused businesses and organizations are offering new ways for Chattanoogans to feed their minds, bodies and spirits.

“We are on a mission to create one of the healthiest communities in the world here in Chattanooga,” says Dr. Becky Klein, Co-Owner of Inspire Chiropractic— a family-friendly chiropractic care center stationed on East Main Street. “We saw the potential and growth of the Southside and knew there was something very special going on here. We wanted to grow with our community, and the Southside was it.”

Purple Sky Healing Arts on East Main.

Offering a range of services that span the distance between physical therapy and acupuncture to medical spa treatment and related therapy, the Southside district’s health and wellness community appears to agree on one thing— treating the person and not just the issue. It’s an approach that for many of these practices incorporates medicinal techniques that meet patients where they are individually in their wellness walks with alternative or complementary medical treatments that can speak to everything from chronic pain or illness to stress management or fertility issues.

Whether Chattanoogans are looking for preventative medicine options, early intervention or long-term health management, here are a few members of the Southside who are passionate about seeing the city at its healthiest:

Center for Mindful Living
The Center for Mindful Living is working to teach Chattanoogans ways to nurture not only their bodies but also their thought lives. A non-profit created to promote the benefits of mindfulness, the Center offers a variety of classes and programs that facilitate stress reduction, mental focus and self-awareness— such as yoga, tai chi, qi gong and meditation.

But what is mindfulness? “Mindfulness is the experience of being in the present moment without judgment,” says Elizabeth Kabalka, the Center’s Executive Director who first embraced mindful living after the stress of juggling a career, family and community involvement became too much.

Transforming her thinking, Kabalka explains mindfulness wakes up the brain from autopilot mode, cutting through the daily litany of laundry lists, perfunctory observations and plaguing worries that often “get us stuck in anxiety and rumination and cause us to mindlessly react,” instead of living with the intention we desire.

Offering beginning mindfulness courses, the Center invites newcomers to enjoy their first class for free.

“We see people who say their lives have been transformed— that their stress is no longer running their lives,” says Kabalka. “They feel like they’ve been given their life back.”

And why the Southside? “Because there seems to be a focus on health, here,” adds Kabalka. “There seems to be an awareness of the importance of self-care— that healthcare really is about self-care. It’s about what you eat, how you exercise, how you think.”

Where to Find: 400 East Main Street, Suite 150For More Info: CenterMindfulLiving.orgTo Schedule an Appointment: Call (423) 486-1279 or visit the website.Who Is It For? “It really is something for everyone. We have a kids camp and offer classes for all ages.”

Center Medspa
This idea of “self-care” is one echoed by Center MedSpa— housed in the Center on Main with the mission of helping Chattanoogans find their balance through personally-tailored spa services, massage and bodywork, skin care, Botox, nail care and laser treatments.

“Whether you are looking for an individual service, couples massage or a group spa event, we feel the soothing sounds of our fountain, the comforts of our luxury robes and the aromatic spa scents will leave you feeling refreshed and centered,” says Terry Jump, Center MedSpa Owner.

Offering one-on-one care by experts who take time to listen to your goals while teaching you about your skin and body, Center MedSpa’s services are customized to meet both clinical and relaxation needs. The MedSpa’s most popular services include a premium 90-minute facial or massage— with customizable facials including anything from deep cleansing, blackhead elimination and upper body massage to an eye contour mask and purifying mask with aromatic compresses. Massage therapists also evaluate each client for target problem areas to maximize comfort and wellness benefits.

Relocating to the spa’s modern 7,700 square-foot East Main Street space in December 2013, Terry Jump thought the move was perfect. “When looking at the landscape of businesses that existed before, we felt our spa would be a wonderful addition to the local community.”

Where to Find: 320 East Main Street, Suite 110For More Info: CenterMedSpa.comTo Schedule an Appointment: Call (423) 643-1980 or visit the website.Who Is It For? “Any person seeking to restore vital energy, reduce stress and gain a more balanced body and mind.”

Inspire Chiropractic
Living up to its name, Inspire Chiropractic is also working in the Southside to inspire families— particularly soon-to-be mothers and children— to make informed decisions about their health through principled, neurologically based chiropractic care.

Dr. Becky Klein works with a patient at her business, Inspire Chiropractic.

“This type of care goes beyond mere symptom relief and helps to improve the function and health of the entire body,” says Dr. Becky Klein, who co-owns Inspire Chiropractic along with her husband, Dr. Joe Klein.

In a kid-friendly space, Dr. Becky and Dr. Joe cultivate a warm and welcoming environment paired with a passion for furthering patients’ wellness journeys, starting with their spinal health.

“Chiropractic health and overall well-being are directly related,” says Dr. Becky. “The goal of chiropractic is getting the body to function better by removing neurological interference and allowing it to heal, function and operate the way it was designed to.”

Inspire Chiropractic tailors each patient’s plan and adjustment style based on your age, size, comfort level, health goals and findings from a comprehensive medical history and chiropractic examination conducted during your first visit. Walking you through each step of the adjustment process and giving you access to monthly health workshops, the Inspire Chiropractic team ensures you remain in the know about your health and that of your family.

Where to Find: 400 East Main Street, Suite 140BFor More Info: InspireChiro.comTo Schedule an Appointment: Call (423) 834-7125 or visit the website.Who Is It For? “People who are ready to make a change in their health. People who are 100% committed to being proactive rather than reactive. People who love a fun and open environment with moms and kids.”

Purple Sky Healing Arts
Located in a reclaimed building on East Main, Purple Sky Healing Arts opened in the Southside after Co-Owner Robin Burk noticed a quaint structure on her drive to and from work that she felt needed some love. “Little did I realize I would be the one to give it some love,” says Burk.

And loved it is— now home to a music and sound therapy practice that wields music as medicine, targeting stress relief, emotional release, deep rest, mental clarity, creative enhancement—a type of therapy you can feel deep in your bones.

“Certain textures of sound penetrate the body in different places,” says Burk, a trained therapeutic musician and sound practitioner whose story with sound began after witnessing the role music played in her own father’s recovery after a 9 month hospital stay. “Particularly with my pain clients, it’s nice to see the relationships with their chronic diseases and chronic pain change.”

Offering both individual and group sessions, Purple Sky’s services include sound baths for deep relaxation, Reiki sessions for physical and emotional restoration, as well as live therapeutic music at the bedside of the ill. Additionally, Purple Sky’s vibroacoustic therapy sessions invite a patient to lie on top of a table through which sound comes, producing musical vibrations and deep sound waves that can be felt through the body, relieving muscle tension and improving circulation. “It’s like laying on a cat’s purr,” says Burk. “It’s very gentle.”

But in the end, Burk adds, “Stress is a major factor of our illnesses and our chronic diseases. The more we can learn to better handle our stress, the better off we will be mentally and physically…this is one of the modalities we can use to do that.”

Where to Find: 625 East Main StreetFor More Info: PurpleSkyHealingArts.comTo Schedule an Appointment: Call (423) 521-0624 or visit the website.Who Is It For? “We have clients who are in their twenties to their eighties with needs ranging from pain conditions, nerve system agitations, anxiety, depression and stress concerns…[to] those exploring and getting to know themselves, seeking balance or energy.”

YIN YANG HOUSE
Helping bring Eastern Medicine to the Southside, Yin Yang House Acupuncture and Wellness Center practices the full gamut of Chinese Medicine, including acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, tuina massage, medical qi gong, as well as “self-help” techniques such as meditation and tai chi. Services also include medically-oriented Western massage therapy.

Yin Yang House Acupuncture and Wellness Center practices the full gamut of Chinese medicine, including acupuncture.

After opening its first Southside office in a converted foreclosed liquor store, Yin Yang House has since set up shop in a refurbished warehouse. Treating a range of physical, psychological and emotional health issues— including allergies, insomnia, fertility issues, depression, cancers, autoimmune conditions and more— the clinic deeply evaluates each patient to determine the root causes of heath issues before making a diagnosis.

“The very nature of Chinese Medicine is holistic,” says Acupuncturist and Yin Yang House Owner Chad Dupuis. “In Chinese Medicine, by focusing on the root, you help the person heal more deeply, more broadly and ultimately more completely.”

But beyond Yin Yang House’s in-house practices, the clinic also hosts an extensive online educational database on Chinese Medicine at YinYangHouse.com, demystifying traditional medicine for readers— one such myth being the fear surrounding acupuncture needles. Dupuis assures that acupuncture is not only painless but can be relaxing and enjoyable.

“We have helped thousands of patients over our nearly 10 years in Chattanooga with a very broad range of conditions,” said Dupuis. “Most come to us as an absolute last resort, and far more often than not we can see steady improvements— not just in the health issues they were interested in resolving, but also in their overall psychological and emotional health.”

Where to Find: 818 East Main StreetFor More Info: Clinic.YinYangHouse.comTo Schedule an Appointment: Call (423) 521-0480 or visit the website.Who Is It For? “Nearly everyone can benefit in some way from Chinese Medicine…We see patients of all ages— from infants to our current oldest patient who just turned 93.”